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Disclaimer: This transcript is auto generated and is not manually checked for errors.  It more than likely contains very significant errors.

[00:00:00] Charles Current: Welcome to Locksports Cash, your weekly source for Locksports News. This is episode 124, recorded November 5th, 2022. I am your host, Charles Current. In today's episode, Lock Picking Lawyer versus Level Lock Peterson's Money Grab tool, US membership system, offline, criminals, products, events, meetups, sales giveaways, and more. 

[00:00:35] You can subscribe to the audio version of the show on most podcast apps and at The Lock Sportscast dot com. You can subscribe to the video version on YouTube, Odyssey Rumble, or Apple Podcasts. Links to stories discussed will be in the show notes. Some apps limit the length of show notes and. But you can always find full Schau with all the links at the Locksports cast.com. 

[00:00:54] Start off, I'd like to say a big thank you to BB Tell Picks on Instagram who sent me a package this week with a cool piece of artwork and a Lock to pick. If you happen to be watching the video version, I know I hate to do this, but if you happen to be watching the video version, you can see the artwork that he sent me over my shoulder here at least. 

[00:01:15] Uh, that is not going to be its permanent location. My wife really likes this piece of art and has given me permission to frame it and put it into the, uh, family room. So thank you to BB Telepix. I really appreciate the picture and everything that you've done to support the show over the years. Um, and I hope everything is going well with you. 

[00:01:35] In the big story. This week was Lock peaking lawyer, put out a video. $329 Smart Lock opened in seconds and this was the level Lock, which is sold in the Apple store and works with the iPhone. He demonstrates that it can be easily ranked and bumped. He also mentions what many of us have noticed, that the bolt holds the battery and is therefore hollow and could be a, a concern for security there if it were kicked in or some other forced entry. 

[00:02:04] Level Locke has responded to his, uh, video in a couple of different articles, one by Tech Radar and one in ior.com. According to tech radar level, Lock has clapped back at those claims saying that Lock picking isn't the biggest real world threat when it comes to Breakins. Their spokesman says that while the potential threat of Lock picking is eye catch, Only 4% of homes are broken into using this method. 

[00:02:32] According to US, Department of Justice and FBI Statistics, they went on to explain that levels smart locks help to tackle the bigger risk. The roughly 38% of homes that are burgled homes where people have entered through an unlocked door or window. Further, if your level Lock is open, you can see that remotely helping you spot. 

[00:02:51] If someone has unexpectedly managed to open it using a Lock pick or a. They say level protects help minimize home break-ins with auto Lock settings at your control. A feature that no analog Lock can match level. Lock provides the convenience of access protection for your doors. You have forgotten to Lock from anywhere in the world, and awareness of when the state of your Lock has changed. 

[00:03:14] We offer the convenience of using something as simple as your phone to securely access your home instead of dealing with lost keys or keys placed under a map for your. We focus on things that truly impact the experience of our customers everyday lives. Let me, uh, just kinda address these points one at a time. 

[00:03:30] First of all, FBI statistics say that only 4% of homes are broken into with Lock picking. That may or may not be true. I'm thinking that the, that it might actually be larger with all the stories that I cover, where criminals are possessing Lock picks nowadays and on their statements for unforced. One of the things they mention is that people burglar's entering through an unlocked door or window. 

[00:03:57] While this might help, if it happens to be on the unlocked door, if you can Lock it remotely or it will auto Lock, it isn't gonna help with the window situation and isn't gonna alert on the window situation. So there is no help there. They tout the remote, uh, monitoring feature, which is a good feature to have. 

[00:04:14] I, I will admit, however, if you're, if you have a. Like a lot of us do, or you just, or you have roommates or anything like that, are you gonna automatically assume when the door opens that it's a criminal and not your roommate or significant other or child? And if you have to start texting everybody to find out if it was them every time, First of all, they're gonna get irritated with all those constant texts. 

[00:04:43] And second of all, they're, That's time was. They're gonna be in and out before the cops get there anyway, once you realize that it wasn't that. So it doesn't really, I don't think, add a whole lot of real life value there. So I'm not sure exactly how much that is actually gonna impact things unless you have like a vacation property that you visit, rarely you rent out whatever, and you know when people are absolutely not supposed to be there. 

[00:05:11] I'm not sure that that feature. All that, uh, useful for a lot of people. And according to ior.com, they say that, uh, level Lock pointed out that it received the B H M A AAA rating for strength and durability. It also quotes the company in saying that they take, uh, security very seriously and ensure that level locks are engineered to meet or exceed the highest industry standards for residential Lock. 

[00:05:40] They noted that the standard key in knob cylinder construction means buyers can swap them out, but level doesn't believe that it's needed, nor should it be on a $320 Lock. I agree that it should not need to be done on a $320 Lock, which is why I wish they would spend a few cents extra and put in at least one with security pins, which they obviously didn't do. 

[00:06:01] A few security pins to add to pick protection and maybe some anti. Measures taken in the Lock would go a long ways for a Lock that you're gonna pay $320 for. Just because statistically the risk of the Lock being picked is reasonably low. Does that really mean that you should subject your users that are paying a premium for this Lock to that risk? 

[00:06:30] So I think it's pretty clear that I don't think they are justified in putting in such a cheap, basic cylinder. In a Lock like this, that's gonna cost $320 in order to only cost them a small amount per Lock to put in reasonable measures. And I think what they're doing here is just damage control because they've been caught and they go to a couple of sites that are quite friendly to these tech companies, Tech Radar, and ior IOR specifically, it's the end of the article reads like a sales brochure for. 

[00:07:06] It's like, here's, here were the complaints. Here was their address, or here was their statement. And, uh, if you wanna buy one, you can find it at the Apple store for only $329. And did it, It just reads like a little ad. So I, and that's the problem with these companies that do talk about tech all the time, is that they actually have a motivation. 

[00:07:28] To stay on the tech company side, whatever it is, because they want to keep getting early access for reviews. They wanna keep the advertising dollars coming in. And that's, uh, that's where Lock picking lawyer and myself differ from those type of sources and that we can take an objective look at what is actually there, How good is it? 

[00:07:50] I can call, I can call them out on these behaviors because I'm not taking any money. I'm not asking them for, for news and information. That's why I get my news information and support from you, the listener, because I can report my honest feelings on these things. So good on Lock. Picking lawyer for pointing that out. 

[00:08:11] And I hope that he does do some sort of, uh, test on the bolt to see how strong it is against a physical kicking attack or a prying attack or some, you know, saw. How strong really is that bolt? I would really like to see that test done. And who knows, it could surprise us. It could be stronger than we think it is, but nobody knows for sure until somebody tests it. 

[00:08:37] And while we're talking about things that I can call out, because I don't take any sponsorships from these companies. This one I've titled Peterson's Money Grab This, uh, was brought up on a tweet by Wow, real bad on. He says, This is absolutely scummy and Peterson put out a notice. That said, this is simply an announcement to let you know that we have found a large selection of locks that people may wish to try to pick, but here is the special on them, and there's a code for 50% off with a minimum purchase of $35. 

[00:09:12] The offer expires 11 9 20, 22. Then whatever's left, if any goes in the scrap. It says most are used, but we have some older, new Morta cylinders as well. And what they're selling is S F I, cylinders used S F I, cylinders that they are selling for $40 a piece without keys. This is for a used keyless, S F I C cylinder $40. 

[00:09:42] But if you have the coupon code, you can get 50% off and get it for. As the tweet shows in some pictures, these are readily available for $20 a piece with keys, and I believe for about $35 you can get brand new Mako SICs, the ones they make with security pins a much better deal. You get 'em brand new with keys. 

[00:10:07] This, this just seems like a money grab to me and I can call it out for that because I don't take sponsor. They even play the FOMO trick of buy them now or, or they're going in the scrap bin and they'll never be available again. I mean, this is, this is a lesson on all the different techniques to, to sell people. 

[00:10:25] Here we have this thing, it's a limited to quantity. They'll only be available for about a week. Gotta get 'em now, or we're gonna throw 'em away. Oh. And we're sale 50% off. We've marked them way up. You know, we've marked 'em up 200%. We'll give you 50% off if you buy 'em with this. I think if they were being honest, they should have put 'em on their site and just sold 'em for, you know, five bucks a piece or just used them as throw ins for people who buy picks or something. 

[00:10:56] Here. Here's a free cylinder you can play with and I received a note from a type regal about Tool US membership system being off. The note said, Hi, Charles. I thought I found something interesting with Tool. I was trying to figure out how to become a member a while back, and the webpage for membership has been down for a couple of months. 

[00:11:17] I reached out and they said it would be a couple of weeks before the membership system is back online. I started a thread on the tool Reddit, if more people want to reach out to them. So if anybody has noticed that, yeah, the site is down. It says Site under maintenance current. And if anybody notices it, go back online, please, uh, send me a note and I will announce that here. 

[00:11:40] Uh, type go. Also had another PS on here, says, If you know anyone interested in Lock picking in Ohio, I'd appreciate it if you let me know. So if there's anybody in Ohio listening to this podcast who might be interested in, uh, getting together with type regal, Let me know and I will pass on the message. Or you can, uh, contact them directly and back on Lock Picking lawyer over on Twitter, he put out a tweet saying, Please join me in welcoming Trevor McNally to the Covert Instruments Team. 

[00:12:13] His fun Lock picking content can be found here, and he provides a link to both the TikTok and YouTube channels for Trevor mcn. So I will have that, those links in the show notes as well as the link to Lock Picking Lawyers Twitter, in case you wanted to join in on that thread. And, uh, congratulations to Trevor McNally for, uh, I guess joining the Cover Instruments team. 

[00:12:39] And during Lock Octoberfest, uh, tool, Chicago had a Lock picking contest. And I, I don't have the names of all the winners. They did put out a tweet with a picture of the winners, and I do know who the first place winner is, and that was Peter Huffman, aka Dr. Hog Master, uh, very, very talented picker. You can find him in the usual discords in YouTube. 

[00:13:06] I'm waiting to see if I can get the names of the second and third place winners and their permission to share those on the show. If I do, I will share those. Also in a future episode, I have reached out to Tools Chicago, and they were gonna reach out and see if they could get permission for me to share that on the show. 

[00:13:23] Moving on to videos, uh, this, this one was shared by Good guy, AKA b and e, A to Z on Twitter, and it was a safe opening, like winning the lottery. And it was a tweet by, and it was a tweet by Martin Newton that shared a video. Uh, it said a review and a video showing the opening of a safe that one of the attendees brought along. 

[00:13:47] Belonging to a customer who had lost the keys, unbeknownst to me, full of cash, made me laugh watching it back. And it's a really cool video. It looks like he, uh, that somebody brought this safe in to one of their little classes. He's. Teaching and he demonstrates how to successfully pick this Lock open and get it open. 

[00:14:07] And once he gets the safe open, there is money inside. So pretty cool and uh, really great little reaction. So I recommend you go check that out. And then, uh, Ken Nixon on YouTube put out a video. 200 grand found in an old bank. The description simply reads, Wow, I found 200 grand in an old bank vault, and I'm gonna leave it at that. 

[00:14:35] I'm gonna let you watch that video to see what that's all about. And back over on Twitter, Talent pick. Put up a video about, uh, tubular Lock, foil impressioning, and it's cool video showing. It's a very similar technique to using the big pen or some other impressioning technique on a tubular Lock, but specifically in this case, doing it with foil, wrapping a uh, few passes of foil around the outside of the end of a pencil and using that then to impression the Lock. 

[00:15:12] Looks like it works pretty well, and I will have a link to that video in the show notes. On the blog front, we have a post from Sparrows ABIs. Lock opened with Blue Tack. I apologize, I'm going to mispronounce names in this article. , I guarantee it. But the beginning of the article reads, this really is a great example of discovering and exploiting a lock's vulnerability in late 2007. 

[00:15:41] Yako Fog. Absolutely crushed an online competition hosted by LP 1 0 1. The competition was simple. Submit a novel article on locks and win a vehicle lockout set. His submission was so strong that it forced ABIs to alter their manufacturing process. And if you wanna know more about that, go check out the Sparrows Lock Picks blog and the post will be linked in the show. 

[00:16:09] Moving on to products, we have handcuff cutaways being sold by Handcuff Warehouse. This was shared on Twitter by a Lock picking Dev originally, and it says these single handcuff cutaways are only $13. All the pieces are metal, including the colored pieces, except for the acrylic cover piece says, I like this shop too. 

[00:16:32] They do free engraving on most of their cuffs. I trust luck picking Deb's endorsement there, so be sure to go check out those cutaways and maybe check out a few other things on their site if you are interested. And South org put out a post saying that their south or max is back in stock. Limited quantity. 

[00:16:54] It says, For those of you who may not be familiar with our South or Max series of Lock picks, this series is manufactured from the strongest type of stainless steel that we can use for Lock. High yield stainless steel, which has a maximum tensile strength of 270,000 psi. Our newest generation of max Picks is manufactured with our rivet list metal handles for which we found most customers prefer. 

[00:17:19] Due to their excellent feedback inside of the locks, the prior generation with abs plastic candles will continue to be available while supplies. We know some of you really like the design of the ABS handles though, so we thought we'd let you know that we found a few long rakes and long sharp rake max picks with ABS handles that were previously out of stock. 

[00:17:44] These picks have been added back to our website and are only available in very limited quantity and only while they last. So if that's something you're interested in, you might want to head over there, pick those up before they're gone. And there was a tweet by Rat Yolk saying that the cutoff for Christmas orders will be the end of November or early December, depending on his workload at that particular time. 

[00:18:08] So if you are thinking about getting one of those custom rat yolk rings, the Lock picking rings for someone you know, or maybe you're asking your loved one to get you one for Christmas. Be sure to let them know that the cutoff will be the end of the month plan accordingly. Moving on to events and meetups we have besides Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina, November 19th, the Pacific Hackers Conference 2022. 

[00:18:40] Uh, training day is November 18th, but the events, talks and workshops are November 19th at the Hacker Dojo in Mountain View, California. Here's a new one that was shared Le Lock Pick Festival December 10th and 11th in Paris. The note said that this is similar to Lock Con in that it's not a public event. 

[00:19:04] You'll either need to be a member of a known or reputable Lock picking or locksmithing organization or be vouched for by someone of trust. The number of seats is limited to 60, but if you happen to be in France, might be something of. 

[00:19:26] Moving on to the Lock Pictures, United Belts for this week. Um, actually the last two weeks since I missed one, I only have one. Looks like a red belt for a dependent quarter, and so congratulations to you on achieving your red belt. We do also have an update on the current belt statistics. So in the Discord we have 180 white. 

[00:19:49] 307 Yellow 626 Orange 371 Green 180 blue 108 Purple 60 Brown, 48 red and 101 black. As far as the Reddit, and remember, there is some overlap in these. We have 990 white 1,633 yellow 2,100. Orange 737 Green 249 blue 116 Purple 66 Brown, 44 red and 96 black for a total of 6,035 people currently participating in the Lock Pickers United Belt system. 

[00:20:32] So if you're not already familiar with that system, you can find links that explain it all, including the official rules in the show notes of every episode. Well, of the more recent. So be sure to check that out. It is a really fun system that helps you have some fun and helps guide you through progressing in your Lock sport Skill set over at Speed Locks, Panda-Frog announced a few more records. 

[00:21:00] Um, on October 25th, it said Mauer n W four by Drma site. In 40.90 seconds is a new world record. And then there were some first record sets. These are the first time a Lock has been picked. For a record, we have an S f I picked to both sheer lines in one take with standard pins by squiggle dork in two minutes, 57.377 seconds. 

[00:21:30] Dom IX 10 with fins by dependent quarter. In three minutes, 17.334 seconds. The treeing vin card 55 with trampoline pins by Squiggled dork in 55.055 seconds. The Abus mylock by dependent quarter in 9.4 seconds. And then on November 3rd, we had a new first record, uh, for the amyloid dis Lock by Craig 3.0. 

[00:22:02] Two minutes, 48.233 seconds. So congratulations to everybody on their new belts and their new records. Now we're to the part of the show where I like to say thank you to the people that made this particular episode possible. These are the people that provide me with information and financial support to keep this show going so that I don't have to beg for sponsors, and I'm free to say what I think about companies practices and product. 

[00:22:30] We'll start with the financial supporters. We have Meddler, Panda-Frog, Michael Gilchrist, Starrylock Williams Brain, Dave dd, Seifer, Lev's, Locksports, Journey. Pat from Uncensored Chat. Go through Directs and a coach Chirael, AKA Anthony, Dr. Hog, Master Clayton Howard, aka. Cool tune, mog. John Locke. Rat. Yo, Mr. 

[00:22:47] Picker. Cranky. Lock. Picker. J p picking bones, Lock picking Deadbolt. Cafe nwa. Lock picker snake. Chief content producer for this episode is again, uh, Chirael, aka. Other content producers are Dr. Hug, Master good guy, AKA B E A to z I. Fisk, Jeff Moss, Joshua Gonzalez Norland, AKA Michael Gilchrist. Panda-Frog Paracentric, the Lock Picker, 1969. 

[00:23:11] Tony Vareli and Type Regal. Thank you to all of you for your support. Much appreciated. Just remember that this show is only possible because of the information and support from the community. So if you value this podcast, please help support it by sending in your news links, events, giveaway information, anything you have that you think the locks support community should know or would like to know. 

[00:23:33] That is the most important thing you can do to help this show Keep going, is sending in that information for me to to share on. All that can be sent to either podcast at The Lock Sportscast dot com, or any of the other methods listed in the show notes. I have several social media sites that, uh, you can send that information to. 

[00:23:51] Just tag me on it and, uh, I will add it to my list. And don't forget to share the show with your Lock picking friends, um, either in person or online. You can leave a review, comment thumbs up on whichever platform you happen to listen on. Don't forget to subscribe on your favorite platform. And if you want to help financially, you can donate on PayPal, subscribe on Patreon or subscribe store. 

[00:24:16] You can find all the information about how to support the show at The Lock Sportscast dot com slash support. If you support the show with a donation or information I use in the show, I will give you credit in the show and in the show notes, just like the people I mentioned above. Just a reminder, if you have any cool stories about Lock sport events or things that happened to you because of Lock sport or because you're a locksmith, whatever, uh, feel free to send them in and as long as they are appropriate, I will, uh, share them on the show. 

[00:24:46] If you wanna send some feedback, you can go to Locksports cast.com/contact and send me some. Just let me know if you are comfortable with being shared on the show or you wanna keep it private. That's totally up to you. If you want it shared on the show, it needs to be reasonable length, polite, work, family safe, no politics, and not just drama. 

[00:25:03] All right, and this week we have a locksmith story. This one is out of Taiwan, the Taipei Times, and it was entitled Locksmith Cracks. Township Offices, Century Old. It says that a safe that had baffled locksmith has been opened after the township office raised the reward for opening it. And it says that it was cracked by an 80 year old locksmith who used a skeleton key that he said he has been using for 30 years. 

[00:25:35] The specifics about how he did it are of course, obfuscated in this article. So we don't know exactly what kind of Lock it was or how we went about it. All it says is sitting on the folding seat in front of the safe, weighing alternated between working the combination Lock and tapping the safe in different areas with a mallet. 

[00:25:56] He managed to open the safe after 40 minutes, but found it to be completely empty. Evidently, there had been rumors in the township that the safe contained gold bars, so some people were quite disappointed to see. That was not the case, although that is normally not the case. I can see how that happens when you have a sealed safe that's been sealed for years. 

[00:26:16] It's easy for people to start speculating what might be in there, but more often than not, they are empty. The article continues after the office doubled the reward news spread fast. Wang said that friends and relatives approached him, telling him to take on the challenge. He said he expected it would be no easy task to open the century old, safe, and brought a variety of tools to try including a. 

[00:26:40] Needle, oiler, mallet and his skeleton key. After getting the safe open, he immediately made a video call to his daughter to share the news. He says he's been working with locks and safe since he was 13 years old and has unlocked many safes. Adding that he has a safe at home, similar to the one at the township office. 

[00:27:02] Uh, let's see. According to, uh, Lynn, a representative for the township said nearly 10 people tried to unlock the safe before Wang, but they all failed. Although people were disappointed that there was no gold or money in the safe, it was still a joy to see the inside of it. After all these years, this particular safe, which had been used by the town shift office during the Japanese colonial era had been exhibited with other historical items used by the. 

[00:27:30] Anyway, I just thought that was kind of a cool story. This, uh, quite experienced locksmith is, was able to come in and show up all the others by getting that safe open. And he obviously knew what he was doing working with old crusty safes. The w the description of him working the Lock while banging on the side of the Lock with a mallet. 

[00:27:50] Um, yeah, and bringing some oil to lubricate it sounds like he, he knew what he was doing pretty well. He's dealt with this kind of thing before. Just a cool story. Moving on to criminals. We've got this one here was, uh, on Twitter, shared with me by Jeff Moss, and it was by the northeast Ohio Scanner Twitter count. 

[00:28:14] And the tweet simply was, uh, aggravated robbery. U s ps driver relieved of his mailbox keys at gunpoint Mail fled in black Santa Fe. Wrong way down. So more of what we've been covering for a while, which is, uh, U US Postal Service male drivers being robbed at gunpoint for their keys because there's so much money in stealing mail out of mailboxes. 

[00:28:42] Next story is out of the UK and it was titled, A Suspected Car Thief and Drug Driver were snared by police during an overnight operation to tackle rural crime in Bassett. The article said that teams of specialist officers were deployed to the north of the county to target criminals traveling across the border from Derbyshire, South Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Neighborhood and Operation Reach officers were joined by the forces Off-Road and drones team, a dog officer, and a multiple pursuit vehicles as they patrolled country lanes and farmland in the area. 

[00:29:22] A 20 year old man was arrested on suspicion of drug driving after being pulled over on the 20th of October. Another car was stopped shortly afterwards and was found to have no insurance. A Lock picking kit, bolt, croppers, and electronic device used to bypass vehicle security were among the various items found. 

[00:29:44] A 25 year old man was arrested on suspicion of going equipped to steal possession of class A drugs and possession of an offensive weapon. In total, seven vehicles were taken off the road for a variety of offenses, and that wraps it up for your crime report for this week. So we move on to sales and we have the same two for south, or we have their cosmetically blemished, Lock pick and tool accessories. 

[00:30:12] As well as their south or sale items page. So links to both of those will be in these show notes. I believe the 10% discount code for Law Lock tools offered by review Guru is still working. So the link to that Twitter post will be in the show notes over@3dlocksport.com. You can get 10% off if you use the code Ls cast. 

[00:30:36] At Mako Locks, you can get, uh, some high quality s i c cylinders for cheaper than you can get 'em at Peterson's, and you can get 15% off at checkout. If you use the code by Mako or at uk Lock Pickers dot co uk, you can get 10% off with the code gift. Moving on to giveaways, Panda-Frog is still running his huge two K subscriber giveaway. 

[00:30:59] I believe he has made three of the five videos so. So be sure to check out his channel and stay tuned for the rest of the videos. The Lock Picker 1969 is doing, uh, weekly giveaways, and so be sure to check out his channel link in the show notes. Clk Supplies is also always doing their hashtag Lock Boss weekly giveaways, and you can check out a link in the show notes if you're interested. 

[00:31:29] That, and that brings us to the end of this. I realize, um, that I have not been doing a very good job of keeping up with, uh, social media and promoting the show and promoting the Locke Awards and other things related to the show. So I have been talking with my wife, She has health problems and isn't able to work. 

[00:31:54] So we were talking about maybe, uh, having her help track some of that stuff, help remote. Um, set up some channels on some, you know, Twitter accounts and stuff like that, that are specific for the Locksports cast and the Lock Awards, and have her help kind of promote that stuff. And I would really appreciate any support from the community and maybe helping get those new channels that we create some subscribers. 

[00:32:21] So I will let you know. We will probably, I, we will no doubt put out some, uh, some posts on social media when those accounts are created, and we will let you know on the podcast when they're created and if you could go subscribe and maybe help give them a little boost, it would be much appreciated. Thank you all for your support. 

[00:32:40] Really, really appreciate it. Thank you for continuing to listen and listen and for putting up with my absences here lately. Work schedule has just been crazy and I haven't been sleeping well. So , it's really hard to get, uh, motivated to put this show together some weeks. Anyway, thank you all for listening. 

[00:32:58] Really, really appreciate it. Thank you for all the support from wonderful members of the community and remember, To keep it legal.